Cardcaptor Sakura: Dark Card Arc
by TairaLikesShippingXD
Summary: Two years later... Sakura and the crew are now attending Tomoeda Junior High when Sakura suddenly senses a dark aura! What might it be? New allies and enemies await! This is a fanfiction of Cardcaptor Sakura that takes place 1-2 years later after episode 70. This ff takes a different turn from the original, which is the Clear Card Arc. It will be further explained in the story.
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction of Cardcator Sakura, and the characters belong to CLAMP, you can probably tell the difference betweeen my original characters, relationships, and the plot from the original CLAMP ones. Enjoy reading!

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

 _"There will come a time when you believe that everything is finished, that will be the beginning."_ -Anon

"Sakura!"

Why is this voice that's calling out to me so familliar? Sakura stared off into the distance, sakura petals falling everywhere. Who... is that? There was a tall figure, his chestnut brown hair swaying with the wind. She reached out her hand but then everything turned dark and everything crumpled away, and she realized that she was falling.

"Sakura!" Kero exclaimed, shaking Sakura.

Sakura opened her eyes, a dream...? But that was no ordinary dream, for sure. "Kero-chan, is there something wrong?"

"I should be the one asking you that, were you having some sort of nightmare? I heard you whimpering in your sleep." Kero replied, his brows creased. Nothing strange has happened lately, and he wished that it would stay that way. Plus, he didn't want to see his mistress and friend, Sakura, hurt. But he knew that something bad was bound to happen soon.

"Oh, it was nothing. Sorry for bothering you, Kero-chan." Sakura smiled sadly.

"Well, if there's anything on your mind, if you want to, you can always tell me, you know? And it doesn't have to be me, either. I know that something has been bothering you these past few days, so don't just keep it to yourself okay?" Kero-chan said, patting Sakura's head.

Sakura blinked. Kero-chan could be really motivational and encouraging at times, despite his normal 'rough-like' attitude. But this is something that she just wants to keep to herself if anything. I mean, it's not like they'll be able to do anything about it even if I tell them. Nothing will be able to change the fact that there's nothing I can do, that nothing will change the fact that he's still very far away from me.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Most people around Sakura's age would be going out and enjoying the last few days of summer vacation, but Sakura wasn't most people. As usual, she forgot to do her summer homework and was doing it last-minute and was running around the house in panic, not knowing what she should do with all the homework piled up on her desk.

"HOOOOOOEEEEE!" Sakura cried, "Not again! And I told myself that I would do my homework in time this year, too!"

"What's this? The kaijou is already in a foul mood and it's still early in the morning." Touya said, nose in the air, smirking at Sakura.

"Not now, onii-chan!" Sakura in her pink-striped pajamas, and sheets of paper in her hands, replied. "This is terrible!"

"Hmm, that's quite a lot, Sakura-san. Unlike before, when you were still in elementary. If you don't mind, would you help her out, Touya-kun?" Fujitaka said, emerging from the kitchen.

"Otou-san! It's fine, I think I'll be okay..." said Sakura, waving her hands in front of her. She was clearly lying.

"Sure, I can help you out..." Touya bent down to face Sakura, then he held out five fingers in front of her. "In exchange for five chores."

Sakura sweat-dropped, "Hoe..."

That evening...

"Phew, I managed to finish all of them!" said Sakura plopping down on her bed. Then her eyes focused on a gray teddy bear on top of her drawer. She sat up and walked down to the living room to make dinner, she remembered that it was her duty tonight. And Touya was kind enough to lessen the amount of chores to three.

"Oh, Sakura-san, I was just about to call you." Fujitaka said, tray in hand.

"Huh?" Sakura looked at the table full of delicious looking food and then she looked up only to see Yukito sitting next to Touya, "Yukito-san!"

"Good evening, Sakura-san." Yukito smiled. "Touya invited me because he said that you were having a feast tonight."

Oh right, she forgot that her father was going to make a feast tonight!

"Well then, now that everybody's gathered together, let's eat." Fujitaka said, putting down the tray and taking a seat.

Everyone nodded, "Ittadakimasu!"

xoxoxoxoxoxox

The morning sunlight seeped into Sakura's room as birds chirpping and the sound of trees being swayed away by the fresh morning air could be heard in the distance.

Ring, Ring! Sakura's alarm clock rang.

"Sakura! You have to get up, you're going to be late for the first day of school!" Kero called out.

"Just five... more minutes..." Sakura muttered and turned her back to Kero. "Wait, did you just say first day of school?!" Sakura exclaimed as she quickly sat up.

"HOOOOEEEEE! I'm going to be late! I was used to sleeping in because it was summer vacation..." Sakura exclaimed in horror.

"Well, you better hurry up!" Kero said, helping her get the things she need, "Since when did the great Cerberus-sama turn into a servant...?" Kero muttered.

Sakura grabbed her bag and headed downstairs, "See you later, Kero-chan!"

Kero waved, "Bye!"

"Ah, Sakura-san, there you are. Ohayougozaimasu, here, I made your favorite pancakes for you." Fujitaka said, putting down a plate of a scrumptious-looking 3 layered pancake covered in maple syrup.

"Ahh! Ohayou. Thank you, otou-san!" Sakura sat down and clasped her hands together, "Ittadakimasu!" Sakura quickly gobbled down the pancakes.

"Oh, by the way, where's onii-chan?" Sakura said looking around.

"He already left, just a few minutes ago." Fujitaka smiled.

"Oh, okay... thanks for the food! It was really delicious!" Sakura said glancing at the clock, time's running out! "I've gotta go, otou-san! Bye!" Sakura said. Sakura stopped and looked at her mother's portrait before exiting the door, Nadeshiko was wearing a green chiffon dress with white trims this time. "Ittekimasu, okaa-san," Sakura smiled.

Fujitaka also smiled then waved, "Take care, Sakura-san!"

"I will!"

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Yesterday... in Hong Kong...

"Ne, Syao-kun, aren't you supposed to be in Japan right now? School for Saku-chan and Tomo-chan starts tommorow." A girl with long chestnut brown hair and amber eyes, approached Syaoran, who was sitting in his desk staring at the window.

"Don't bother him, Rei." Meilin came up from behind and continued, "He's thinking of a way on how to make a grand entrance."

"Eh? But that 'transferring in the middle of the semester' method is so overused now, Mei-chan!" Rei groaned and plopped down the chair next to Syaoran.

"Rei, what do you want?" Syaoran finally spoke and faced the two.

"He wasn't even listening, was he?" Meilin sighed.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to pay Saku-chan and Tomo-chan a little visit!" Rei declared as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

At this, Syaoran scowled. He wasn't planning on going back to Japan any time soon, but Rei, his cousin, was always urging him to go. Besides, the clan had already approved of it anyway. And now he's made up his mind, "I'm going back to Japan next week."

"Eh?!" They both exclaimed simultaneously.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Back in Japan... current time...

"Good morning, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura panted. The bell rang, swiftly she sat down her desk, she barely made it!

"Oh, Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo smiled. She and Sakura got to be seatmates again, this year. Which was, of course a win-win for both of them.

"Everyone, please take your seats, I'm about to start homeroom!" Terada-sensei said. He moved to Tomoeda Middle School just this year, hmm... I wonder why?

Sakura looked out the window and her eyes widened, she was sure that she felt a presence just now. But it was no ordinary presence... something about it was... dark? That's it, like a dark aura of some sort. But what could it be?

After a while, the bell rang and it was finally lunchtime. Sakura went outside near the school entrance and tried to feel for the aura again. But, it was gone. Then, she felt as if someone was watching her, and as she turned around a black figure suddenly moved and then disappeared. What was that?

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"Well, I'll be ahead of you! Tonight, I'll be leaving for Japan!" Rei responded.

"Well, yeah, since that's what they told you to do. Sheesh, are they that worried about the cards? Sakura will be just fine by herself! Probably..." Meilin sweat-dropped.

Rei turned to Syaoran, "Well, I'm only going to be an observer, but if anything goes wrong, I'll be there to aid Saku-chan, so I'll make sure your dear Sakura is safe, yeah?"

"Whatever..." Syaoran stood up and left the classroom.

"Gee, what's gotten into him? Oh, and I know why you've been asking Syaoran to go along with you... you secretly want them to get together again, don't you?" Meilin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh? So what? Well, that is true... but that's not the only reason! You see, if he comes with me, I'll have a personal guide!" Rei clasped her hands together.

"Really? I mean, I could go with you..." Meilin said.

"But, I figured the Elders woudn't allow it." Rei replied. "Besides, Syao-kun was ordered to come to Japan anyway, and he still hasn't yet. What's holding him back, I wonder."

"That's..." Meilin trailed off and looked outside the window. It was starting to rain, and by the second the rain was getting heavier and heavier.

"Oh no! I didn't bring my umbrella with me today! Do you mind if I can share with yours?" Rei asked.

Meilin also wanted Syaoran and Sakura to get together again. But she can't just ignore the fact that she once liked him as well. Syaoran deserves Sakura more than anything, she knows that. But, why-oh-why is she still feeling the slightest feeling of hurt and regret?

"Mei-chan?" Rei waved her hands in front of Meilin, snapping her back to reality. "I asked if I could share with your umbrella 'cause I didn't bring mine today."

"Oh, huh? Yeah, I don't mind at all."

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"Who's there?" Sakura asked, walking closer. With trembling hands, she reached her hand out and searched through the bushes. Only to be greeted by the sight of a girl with long chestnut brown hair and amber eyes, holding a pair of binoculars. She looked exactly liked Syaoran, but only a bit more... feminine?

Hesitantly, she asked, "S-Syaoran-kun...?"

Rei sweat-dropped, "Ahahaha! Just like dear Saku-chan to mistake me for Syao-kun! Well, it's not time for us to meet just yet, so I'm going to have to ask you to forget this for now, ohohohoho..." Rei slipped out an ofuda and chanted a spell. Then, Sakura lost conciousness and fell in Rei's arms.

"Sakura-chan!" A voice called, it was Tomoyo.

"Shoot, gotta go!" Rei carefully placed Sakura's body on the ground and fled before Tomoyo could see her.

Tomoyo looked around and saw Sakura sprawled on the ground, unconcious. "Sakura-chan! Who..."

Tomoyo immediately called the school nurse and they carried Sakura to the infirmary. "She's just unconcious, there aren't any bruises so don't worry about it. And she doesn't seem to have a fever, so she'll be fine by the time she wakes up again." The nurse reassured.

"Really? Well, okay.. thank you." Tomoyo glanced at Sakura, she just left the classroom earlier without saying a word to her. Could it be connected to the cards? Even if she didn't have powers, she could faintly sense a dark aura from earlier where she found Sakura. What's going to happen?

Rei stood by the infirmary doorway, she was also wearing a Tomoeda Middle School uniform. She eyed Tomoyo gripping Sakura's hand tightly. She must be in deep thought, and jeez, all this because I wiped her memory of earlier and that apparently caused her to loose consciousness.

Tomoyo thought that she saw someone standing by the doorway, but as she turned her head towards the door, the person was gone. She shook her head, maybe she was hallucinating. The last time she was this worried was when Sakura locked herself in her room for days when she learned that Syaoran was going back to Hong Kong. But this isn't the same as that time since that must've been very painful for Sakura. Even though she knew that it would've been very well Syaoran's fault, she knew that he had no choice as well. What happened that day, only Sakura knew, and perhaps her brother, since he was also there when it happened. But whatever it was, it left Sakura heartbroken for weeks. If not, then months.

"Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura opened her eyes and stared hard at Tomoyo, she had watery eyes and a queer expression, unlike her usual composed self.

"Sakura-chan! You've finally come to!" Tomoyo exclaimed, as she hugged Sakura tightly.

Not sure if she was supposed to be amazed or worried with this unusual side of Tomoyo, she asked, "What happened, Tomoyo-chan?"

"That should be my question, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed, "You just suddenly left the classroom earlier without saying anything and didn't come back for a long time, so I got worried and decided to look for you, then I found you outside, near the school gates, unconcious. What exactly happened?"

"Oh, that... strange, I can't seem to recall any of those things... The last thing I remember is going outside because I felt a dark aura of some sort and I wanted to check it out," Sakura responded.

"That's.. all?" Regaining her composure, Tomoyo asked softly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry..."

"Well, that doesn't matter, at least you're safe. We should head back to class, the nurse told me that once you woke up, you would be fine since you didn't have any wounds nor a fever anyway," Tomoyo said as she helped Sakura up.

"Sorry for worrying you, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura smiled.

"Oh, it was nothing. I mean, what are friends for, right?" Tomoyo smiled back.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"You what?!" exclaimed Meilin through the phone.

"Look, it was a mistake, okay? I didn't mean for her to see me!" Rei replied.

"Then you could've done a better job at it!"

"Cut her some slack, Meilin." Syaoran told Meilin as he took the phone, "So, what happened afterwards?"

"Well... Tomo-san found her and carried her to the infirmary together with the nurse. The nurse said that she was fine and would be up and about when she finally regains conciousness."

Sighing, Syaoran replied, "Well, at least the worst didn't happen. Just be careful, don't use too much of your magic unless necessary. If you do that your powers might get-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I'll be careful..." Rei yawned, "I need to go get my beauty sleep..."

"Do you have everything under control?"

"Yup, I'll carry out the plan tommorow. I still don't know what it is, but I'm going to try to find it before Saku-san does, talk to you guys later!"

Rei ended the call and placed her phone on the desk, next to a picture. Rei took the picture and looked at it intently, there was a little girl with short black hair and black eyes, sitting next to another little girl who had long brown hair and amber eyes. They both looked so carefree and happy, sometimes she wished that she could just go back to those days. Innocent, blissful days...

xoxoxoxoxoxox

The next day...

Tomoyo and Sakura was walking to school together, when Sakura felt the dark aura again. Just like before, the aura was coming from the school gates. Then, a beam of light shot through the sky and the dark aura instantly disappeared.

"What was that?" Tomoyo asked.

"I don't know, but this time I won't let it get away!" Sakura said, gripping her star key.

"Won't let what get away?" A melodic voice emerged from behind them.

Surprised, Sakura and Tomoyo turned around to see who was talking and they were greeted by a girl holding a sword and was emanating a strong aura of light.

"Hello." Rei smiled, putting her sword away.

"Syaoran...?" They both looked at her quizzically.

Once again, Rei sweat-dropped, "Eh? Will everybody just stop mistaking me for that tweak?"

"So you're not..." Tomoyo continued. While Sakura just stood there, feeling a sense of dèjà vu.

"Of course not!" Grinning, Rei said, "My name is Li Reienji, It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Tomo-chan, Saku-chan!"

"Eh? How do you know our names?" Sakura asked. Reienji... now where have I heard that name before?

"Hmm... Syao-kun and Mei-chan always told me stories about you guys when they were still in Japan." Which is where he would be right now if he wasn't such a butthead.

"You know Syaoran-kun and Meilin-chan?" Sakura asked, everything was getting more and more confusing by the second.

"Are you cousins then?" Tomoyo asked.

"Well... I guess you could say that," Rei smiled. "I've been hiding for the past few days, so It's great to just walk around without worrying about who might see you..."

Then in the distance, the school bell rang.

"Welp, you guys better go ahead or you'll be late!" Rei started to walk off and waved her hand goodbye to them, "Catch you guys later!"

"Wait, Li-san!" Sakura called.

"Hmm?" Rei turned around, "Oh, you guys can just call me Rei."

"Umm, Rei-chan, is Meilin-chan and Syaoran-kun doing well..?" Sakura asked, hesitantly.

Rei smiled, "Yeah, they are." Then she turned around again and disappeared in the woods.

"She's really a Li..." Sakura said.

"You were suspecting her? Well, the Li's do have a thing for creeping up behind you without you noticing at all," They both giggled.

"Oh yeah, we're going to be late, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. And together, they zoomed off inside the building.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"What's her plan, Syaoran?" Meilin asked while she and Syaoran were doing their daily sparring in Syaoran's courtyard.

"Honestly, I don't know, the only thing that she told me was that she was going to make work easier for Sakura." Syaoran replied.

After a series of punches, Syaoran did a sidekick which Meilin instantly blocked, and after that, she did a roundhouse kick and swiftly pinned Syaoran to the ground.

"You've improved."

"No, you're just losing your touch. What's wrong with you these days? It's like you're not taking things very seriously at all." Meilin paused and grumbled, "It's kind of insulting."

"Eh?" Syaoran looked up at the slightly pale Meilin. "Wait, Meilin are you ok-" Before Syaoran could even finish his sentence, Meilin collapsed into his arms, her breathing was uneven.

"Meilin?" Syaoran shaked Meilin, but from the looks of it, she had lost conciousness. "Meilin? Meilin!"

"..."

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"Rei-chan is very mysterious, isn't she?" Tomoyo commented, it was lunchtime and they were sitting outside, eating.

Chomping down her favorite fried shrimp that her father had prepared for her, she replied, "Yeah, and the fact that she knows Syaoran-kun and Meilin-chan is even more confusing."

"Well she did say that they were cousins, although she was being quite hesitant about it..."

"Syaoran-kun and Meilin-chan didn't mention anything about her before though..."

"They didn't? Well that's kind of rude." Rei spoke from behind them, eating a bag of chips.

"Hoe... Rei-chan! What are you doing there?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Actually, I've been sitting here the entire time. I was already here even before you two came. Ohohohoho..." Rei responded.

"Really?" Tomoyo asked, star-eyed. "Can you teach me how to do that, Rei-chan? I would love to be able to record Sakura-chan as close as possible without being noticed!"

"Sure! All it takes is for you to be dead silent and have very less movement," Rei smiled. Sure enough, Tomoyo was crazy about recording Sakura just like Meilin said. Is it wrong to think that I actually want to wear some of her costumes?

Meanwhile, Sakura sweat-dropped, "Hoe..."

I don't know what's going to happen. But whatever it may be, I'll fight till the end. And make sure that this world is free from any destruction that this darkness may set free. And whatever it may be, I'll fight till the end. Because I know that you'll always be here with me.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Taira Murasaki: (February 5, 2018)

Konnichiwa, everyone! Thank you for reading the first chapter of my Cardcaptor Sakura fanfiction: The Dark card Arc!

What if Sakura and Syaoran didn't seperate in the best terms and Sakura never got to reply to Syaoran's feelings? Miss those days when our dear Syaoran-kun was still blushing and scowling all the time, and those cute and fluffy SyaoSaku moments? Then, you'll find that right here! Only a little bit more matured-like because, they're probably 14 year olds now! I'm just guessing. (Edit: I wrote this before Clear Card came out so hopefully eveyone will understand OwO) And I'll also be adding new characters and new relationships as you can see.

Ne, ne? So what do you guys think? R+R please! (^3^) I would like to hear some of your comments and suggestions!

What do you guys think about Rei-chan? Is she cute? Annoying? Mysterious and confusing? And what is her relationship with Meilin and Syaoran? You'll find out soon, hehehe. Again, thank you so much for reading and please come back for more! Chapter 2 will be up around the first week of March.

Arigatougozaimasu!


	2. Chapter 2: Regret

Chapter 2: Regret

" _Fear is temporary, regret is forever._ " -Anon

The bell rang and school was finally done for the day.

If one listened closely enough, they would be able to hear the faint melody of piano notes playing from the music room. Tomoyo Daidouji stared down the hallway, her eyes fluttering towards the music room.

She has heard that melody somewhere before, but where? With a sense of eagerness, she walked towards the music room. Timidly, she slowly opened the door, afraid of what- or rather, who she might see.

"Hiiragizawa-kun."

"Long time no see," replied Eriol looking up from the piano. "I've mentioned it before, haven't I? You can just call me Eriol, I am not too fond of such formalities."

 _Huh?_ Her heart melted and something in her stomach lurched upon seeing the boy with glasses and dark blue hair with brilliant sapphire eyes, sitting down, his hands rested on the piano.

"Okay, then you can just call me Tomoyo as well, Eriol-kun. So what brings you back here in Japan?" Tomoyo replied, a bit hesitant.

"I guess things just got too boring back home, so I decided to pay everyone a visit." Eriol stated as a matter of fact.

Tomoyo merely smiled, of course, what else would be the reason? But there must be something else. "Have you told anyone yet, or were you planning to surprise us?" she asked, as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Maybe." was his short response. He stood up and walked closer to Tomoyo, "As always, you look very beautiful, Tomoyo-san."

What? Was he actually... complimenting her? "I- uh.."

"Tomoyo-chan! There you are, I was looking every-" Sakura stopped, bursting into the music room. She stared at Eriol and Tomoyo and then smiled.

"Eriol-kun! What are you doing back here in Japan? Why didn't you say anything?" Sakura asked, then she glanced at the slightly red Tomoyo. Oh dear, did she interrupt something important?

"Hello Sakura-san, I was going to tell you. Though, I just didn't know when." Eriol smiled.

"Oh, right! Tomoyo-chan you forgot this!" Sakura said turning to Tomoyo, she handed her a blue bag filled with papers and sewing materials.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry for causing you trouble." Tomoyo replied.

"It's no problem! Well, we should probably head home." Sakura turned around, ready to leave the room. Then she frowned, if Eriol's here, is there something that she should be worried about? Surely Eriol didn't just come all the way from England to Japan just because he wanted to pay them a visit. She shook her head, now if only he was back...

Tomoyo and Eriol stared at Sakura shaking her head furiously and exchanged puzzled glances.

xoxoxoxoxox

Walking down the streets, Sakura halted and looked at Eriol expectantly, "What are you really doing back here in Japan, Eriol-kun?" She couldn't get the thought out of her head.

Looking back at Sakura, his brows furrowed, "Well, I really wouldn't be lying if I told you that it just got too boring back home."

"But?" Sakura added, was she right after all?

"But... I believe that there is something that we should be rather concered about." After a second thought, he added, "Apparently, a seal had just been broken a few days ago."

"A seal?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yes, and I believe that that seal was made by Clow himself. Decades ago, he sealed a source of dark magic that was preventing him from making the Clow Cards."

"Dark magic..." Sakura repeated.

"To maintain equibrilium between the forces, there also had to be some sort of dark magic to match the cards' light ones. And just a few days ago, the seal broke which caused all of the dark magic to be released." Eriol said, his glasses reflecting light from the setting sun.

"So that's why I've been feeling this dark aura all this time... But then, who could've broken the seal?" Sakura asked, "Clow-san was known for making very formidabble seals and barriers after all."

"I still don't know, but whoever it is, it must be someone powerful." Eriol said, "You better be careful and stay on your guard, but if there's anything in more danger than you are, it's the cards. If there is dark magic on the loose, it may very well take control over the cards and possibly corrupt them. And the cards, when used for the wrong intentions can be very powerful, and instead of being able to aid you as they're supposed to, may also pose as a very dangerous threat to you."

Sakura frowned, this was a lot to take in. Just as she thought that life was finally going normal for her for once. But then again, it is her duty as the mistress of the Sakura cards, and they were the ones at stake. She must find a way to destroy the source of this dark magic before it harms any of the cards.

"Then that means..." Tomoyo shrieked.

"Eh?" Sakura looked at Tomoyo quizzically.

"This means... That I'll be able to video tape Sakura-chan wearing my battle costumes again! Ah, this makes me very happy!" Tomoyo squealed. Although she was worried about all of this, the least she could do was lighten up the mood. At this, Eriol smiled. But truly, she was happy that the costumes that she had been making for the past two years or so weren't going to waste after all.

xoxoxoxoxox

Rei walked into the Li mansion and went to the courtyard, "Ya called?"

Syaoran looked up, "Eh? Well, that was quick."

"Heh, well you see, I have this thing called magic, Syao-kun." Rei leaned against the doorway gazing at the scene of Meilin layed on the ground with her head rested on Syaoran's lap, "What happened?"

"Meilin passed out..."

"YOU CALLED ME ALL THE WAY FROM JAPAN JUST FOR THAT?!" Rei exclaimed, steam coming out from her ears.

Syaoran sweat-dropped at the sight of an angered Rei, "No! No! It's not just because of that." He paused, "Actually, I want you to stay here for a few days."

Rei lowered her fists and said, "Hm, Why?"

"Well..." Syaoran looked at Meilin, her breathing was slowly going back to normal now, "I need you to look after Meilin."

"Oh...? Well, I don't mind. By the way, I was just in the middle of talking to Saku-chan and Tomo-chan when you called," Rei smiled.

"Wait, what? Did you tell th-"

"Nah, I didn't. I mean, Eri-kun's probably in Japan by now, and I'll let him fill them in."

"Eri-kun..?" Syaoran scowled, he had completely forgotten about that four-eyed creep.

"So, are you going to take Mei-chan inside or what?" Rei crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Oh, right." He carried Meilin on his back and proceeded to carry her into the house, Rei followed from behind.

"So why do I need to take care of Mei-chan exactly?"

"I just feel like we should be extra careful, and I can't exactly leave her alone here in Hong Kong while we're in Japan. I want to bring her with us, but like you said, the Elders might not approve." Syaoran replied, entering a guest room and setting the unconcious Meilin on the bed.

 _He was listening to that conversation?_ "Well, I guess that's fine." Rei paused, "But you can't take me out from all the fun for too long! I want to go back to Japan, too."

"Fine, for now, we'll take turns. I'm not supposed to leave for Japan yet, so I'll call you again when the time comes. Is that okay? Oh, and sorry for bringing you over here in such a short notice."

"Yeah, that's fine," Rei responded.

"Well, I'll be leaving now. Take care!"

"Yeah, the same goes to you." Syaoran watched as Rei left the room and disappeared.

xoxoxoxoxox

"A seal was broken?" Kero asked.

"Yeah... now there seems to be some sort of dark magic on the loose." Sakura pondered for a moment, _this is different from merely catching the cards when they were up to mischief, nor that time when Eriol-kun was training me since he had good intentions anyway and didn't want to completely harm us. However, this time..._

"Sakura?" Kero called.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sakura smiled, "Let's worry about all of that tommorow, I'm tired."

Kero nodded and turned off the lights and snuggled up next to Sakura, "Sweet dreams, Sakura."

"You too, Kero-chan."

xoxoxoxoxox

Rei walked down the streets when she suddenly felt the urge to go to King Penguin park. She continued walking until she saw a person in the distance. Slowly, she walked closer to the person.

"..."

Rei grinned and faced Eriol, dark blue hair swaying in the wind and glasses glimmering in the moonlight.

"Long time no see," Rei said.

"Long time no see, indeed, Reiji." Eriol smiled teasingly.

Rei's eyebrows twiched, "Oh come on, don't be like that, Eri-kun."

"Like what?"

"This conversation isn't going to go anywhere. I'm glad to see you're doing fine after all these years, makes me want to screw your pretty little face up a bit." Rei said, releasing her sword.

"Oh, don't think the feelings aren't mutual." Eriol also released his staff and pointed it towards Rei.

"Heh," Rei lunged forward to attack Eriol.

"Want to celebrate our reunion with a fight? You haven't changed one bit." Eriol said, blocking Rei's speedy attacks with his staff.

"Same goes to you, you're still an old creepy hag stuck in a kid's body!" Rei slashed her sword at him again.

"I've been reincarnated, Reiji, if that makes any sense. And do I really have to say this again? Just because I am Clow Reed's reincarnation, doesn't mean that I am really him. So I see no right for you to hold a grudge on me for what Clow did after all these years."

Rei only remained silent and attacked Eriol, once again he blocked it with his staff. Then a huge amount of dust gathered, and once everything cleared, Eriol found himself standing alone in the park. Rei had disappeared, he smiled.

xoxoxoxox

"Syaoran...?" Meilin called, eyes half-shut.

"Meilin!" Syaoran ran up to Meilin, "Are you okay now?"

"I'm feeling a little dizzy, but I'm fine." Meilin paused, she eyed the ofuda in Syaoran's hand, "What's that?"

"So why do I need to take care of Mei-chan exactly?"

"I just feel like we should be extra careful, and I can't exactly leave her alone here in Hong Kong while we're in Japan. I want to bring her with us, but like you said, the Elders might not approve." Syaoran replied.

"Well, I guess that's fine." Rei paused, "But you can't take me out from all the fun for too long! I want to go back to Japan, too."

"Fine, for now, we'll take turns. I'm not supposed to leave for Japan yet, so I'll call you again when the time comes. Is that okay? Oh, and sorry for bringing you over here in such a short notice."

"Yeah, that's fine," Rei said.

"So, did you bring it?" Syaoran asked.

"Hmm? Oh, right. This?" Rei handed Syaoran a sealing ofuda. It was emanating a strong dark aura.

"I sealed it there for now when I felt the dark aura near the school gates for the second time, I guess Saku-chan felt it too, but I got ahead of her. Whaddja say?"

"Well, you should give this back to her, so that she can seal the dark magic away again so that it won't corrupt the cards." Syaoran handed the ofuda back to Rei.

"No, keep it. _You_ give it back to her. She probably doesn't even know how to seal dark magic yet. So you keep it and make sure it doesn't break free, okay? I'm going to take care of a few things while I'm here." Rei said, "Well, I'll be leaving now, take care!"

Syaoran quickly hid the ofuda in his pocket, he stammered, "I-It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Hm.. okay then. Where are we?" Meilin looked around the room.

"We're in one of the guest rooms at my house, you suddenly passed out while we were training earlier. Oh right, I have to tell Wei. Don't move too much, okay? I'll be right back."

Watching Syaoran leave the room, Meilin smiled, since when did Syaoran become so caring? It was just a few years ago when he was that grouchy anti-social kid at school. All the more reason why Syaoran needs Sakura more than anyone, she's the only one who can really change the darkest of hearts. (Not that he had one)

 _That's why I also want him to go back to Japan, he and Rei needs to stop worrying so much about me. Stupid useless, weak, magic-less self._

xoxoxoxox

"You have an injury," a feminine voice said.

"It's fine, I can handle it." Rei replied, she was gripping her sword too tightly, her palm was almost in the verge of bleeding. She clenched her fists, she was walking down the streets on the way to her apartment, next to Syaoran's old one.

"I can heal it for you," the voice insisted.

"I'm fine. Besides, you already helped me out so much earlier, that's good enough for today," Rei said.

"Hmm.. fine. If that's what you want, then I guess I can't do anything about it," the voice disappeared.

She looked at her palm, slowly, the scars healed, as if it wasn't there in the first place. "Heh, persistent as always aren't you?"

xoxoxoxox

 _The next day..._

"Everyone, please take your seats! I have an announcement to make." Terada-sensei said, walking into the classroom.

"Today, I have a new transfer student to introduce to you. She comes from Hong Kong and is cousins with the other two Li's, come in." Terada-sensei gestured to the door.

"Cousins? Does sensei mean Li-kun and Meilin-chan?" One of the students whispered.

Then, a bright-looking girl with long brown hair and red amber eyes entered the classroom, "Hello everyone, my name is Li Reienji. Nice to meet you all," She smiled, so wide that a halo might just appear above her head.

The three cousins back in their school in Hong Kong were known to be the most popular, talented, beautiful/handsome and not to mention, very smart. Sometimes, in grades and competitions, it would be Meilin in first place, sometimes Rei, and most of the time, Syaoran. Thus, all through out the school, they were known as the 'Wanmei San' (perfect three/trio).

"Let's see... about your seat, you can take the one behind Daidouji-san," Terada-sensei pointed to an empty spot behind Tomoyo.

Rei walked up to Tomoyo and Sakura and smiled once again, "Nice to meet you." And she proceeded to her seat.

"Hoe... I mean, I guess I'm not surprised, but.." Sakura whispered to Tomoyo.

"We should've seen it coming, ohohoho..." Tomoyo agreed.

xoxoxoxox

"Does anyone know the answer to this problem?" The math teacher, Asuka-sensei, aksed.

The whole class was dead silent, this was just literally taught last week ago and nobody could remember the formula anymore, some people like Tomoyo did, but they probably didn't want to go up front and answer nonetheless.

Rei raised her hand.

"Reienji-san, please answer the problem on the board," all heads turned to Rei's direction. She stood and walked up to the board and answered the problem.

"Correct, well done, Reienji-san." Asuka-sensei acknowledged, she surely wasn't expecting the new student to answer the problem the students could barely even remember, well she is a Li after all.

"Good job, Rei-chan! You got it on the first try!" Tomoyo whispered to Rei.

Sakura smiled, "Yeah, I was afraid that if nobody volunteered she would call a student instead, ahahaha.."

"Eh? It's no big deal, really..." Rei blushed, but what could she do? Math was her favorite subject after all, besides English.

'Show off.' A voice murmured.

'Shut up!' Rei retorted.

xoxoxoxox

"Yes. Brown transferred into Pink's class, just this morning. Brown seems to be getting along with Pink and Purple well." A girl with long dark violet hair and black eyes spoke through the mic.

"Anything else?" A male's voice spoke through the earpiece.

"Brown showed signs of great use of light power. If my calculations are correct, she used a teleportation spell," The girl continued, she gazed at the sight below, she was standing on the top of a tall building, probably 60 feet from the ground.

"To where?"

"Hong Kong. She met with Green since he called her, apprently Red lost conciousness."

"He called her just for that...?"

"Brown also gave Green a sealing ofuda, and went off on her own." The girl paused, "That's all, currently, Pink and Purple are eating outside with a few friends; one boy, three girls, and a girl is approaching them. And Brown's whereabouts are currently unknown."

"I understand, I will be on standby in the meantime," She said, putting her sunglasses on, as she jumped off of the building.

xoxoxoxox

"So? How did everyone's summer vacation go?" Chiharu asked.

"It was great! My family and I went to this sort of white victorian-style house in Kyoto!" Naoko replied.

"Oh, I did hear about that, they're those big mansion-like houses near the beach, right?" Rika stated.

"Eehh... really? That must've been nice!" Sakura beamed, all of the girls (insert Takashi here) gathered for lunchtime and talked about what happened to their summer vacations, as usual.

Takashi joined in, "Speaking of victorian-styled houses! Did any of you know that they were first founded by a woman who was apparently named Victoria, and was also rumored to be a cunning murderer which deceived men at night, takes their money, and uses that same money to-"

Takashi almost got to finish his story but ended up being strangled by Chiharu, "Lies, lies! Look at Sakura-chan! Don't you feel guilty at all?"

They all turned to Sakura, who was star-eyed, "Eh...?! I didn't know that! It sounds really creepy, but I wanted to hear the rest!"

Takashi smiled, but before he could do anything else, Chiharu teasingly slapped him on the back as a girl started to run towards them.

"Sakura-san!" A girl with long, white, snow-like hair tied into a ponytail and icy blue eyes approached them.

"Ah, Aisu-chan." Sakura looked up.

"Is there something we can help you with, Aisu-san?" Tomoyo also looked up, if there was anyone that rivalved with Tomoyo's beauty, kindness, and grace, it would be Fuyu Aisu. Secretary of the student council, also known as the Snow Princess because of her kind, elegant, and sometimes icy nature.

"Is Yuki-kun with you, Aisu-san?" Yamazaki asked, he was friends with Aisu's twin brother, Fuyu Yuki. The captain of the basketball team and, just like his sister, known as the Snow Prince.

"He has a basketball meeting," Aisu replied.

"Eh? Even though it's lunchtime?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I heard it was pretty urgent since the annual sport games are coming up, the captains are getting really fidgety, since this year, we'll be going up against Rissei Academy," Chiharu said. Rissei Academy was the posh and elegant school that was just beside the neighborhood Tomoeda. Rissei Academy could probably be called Tomoeda's rival school in games and other competitions.

"Yeah, that's right." Aisu replied, as she eyed Rika who was quietly eating her lunch.

Feeling a pair of icy blue eyes directed at her, Rika looked up, "Eh?"

Aisu quickly looked away, "Ah, by the way, Sakura-san, Terada-sensei asked me to give this to you. Sorry for bothering all of you, I'll be leaving now," Aisu smiled. She took one final glance at Rika and took off.

Tomoyo noticed this, and she tapped Sakura lightly on the shoulder, "Sakura-chan, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Right now? I mean, the bell is probably just about to ring. We should head back," Sakura whispered to her, Tomoyo's strange expression worried her, these days, she felt like Tomoyo was being less than her usual composed self, _I wonder if she's also worried about this whole 'dark magic' thing..._

As soon as she said that, the bell rang. "Oh, right..." Tomoyo laughed nervously. Ever since Aisu started going to their school, she's been feeling very off lately. Everyone gathered their bentos and readied to go back inside until Tomoyo was the only one left.

Someone walked up behind her and a very familliar voice whispered, "Be careful, she might know more than she lets on. There's no knowing of what she's capable of doing."

Tomoyo spunned around to see who was talking, but as she turned around, the person was gone. _That voice... I know it too well, it's Eriol-kun's._

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura called and waved her hand in the distance, "Are you coming?"

"I'll be right there!"

xoxoxoxox

"Stupid Rei. What makes her think I can keep this thing from breaking free? I can even barely control my magic properly..." Syaoran said, eying the black-tainted ofuda in his hands.

"She probably thinks that you should give it to Kinomoto-san."

Syaoran jumped and quickly hid the ofuda, "Gah! Meilin? What are you doing? You're not supposed to be up yet!"

"Psshhh! I'm perfectly fine, you don't have to worry so much about me," Meilin replied.

Syaoran looked away, "I wasn't worried."

"Heh, of couse you weren't," Meilin teased. Then, she walked past him, hands folded on her back, as her long, black pigtails fanned behind her, "I _am_ hungry though, so I'm gonna go back to my house. Don't worry, I'll tell Wei and Auntie Yelan about what happened before I leave."

"Okay then, be careful on your way home." Syaoran paused, "On second thought, maybe you should ask Wei to escort you."

"I'll be fine, jeez!" She groaned, "So? When are you planning to go to Japan?"

"Rei still needs to take care of a few things in Japan, so I guess It'll have to wait."

"What does that have to do with this?" Meilin paused, "Well, even so... don't you want to see _her_ again or something?" Meilin played with her luck, she really wanted to know what was going on his mind, because at times like these, he tends to just bottle himself up. And that was not a good thing.

Expertly changing the subject, Syaoran proceeded to head back to his room and said, "It's getting dark, you should probably head back now," Trying to keep the restraint tone from his voice.

Meilin pouted, "Hmph! I'm telling you, if you keep this on, she'll really start hating on you."

Abruptly, Syaoran turned around and stared right through her amber eyes, a shade a little lighter than his.

A chill ran down her spine as she walked towards the door, "I'm leaving."

 _That is true, but what exactly should I do? Go back to Japan and expect her to forgive me so easily after I left her without even saying goodbye? I'm an idiot, and that's why I've chosen to let go. She probably hates me more than anyone in the world right now._

 _Still... I'm sorry that I didn't say anything to you that time. I wonder if I'll ever be able to look at you straight in the eyes ever again. But seeing how things are now, I guess I have to, huh?_

xoxoxoxoxox

Taira Murasaki:

Konnichiwa, everyone! Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy? Sorry if the scenes are a little mixed up and confusing. I'll try to work on that, hehe.

Hohoho... Things are about to get spicy... Say, what if Sakura-chan got a boyfriend and forgot about Syaoran-kun completely? What will he do about it, I wonder. *smirk* No, no, I was just kidding. I'm not that cruel.

Again, thank you so much for reading and please come back for more! I'll try not to be late this time, chapter 3 will be up in a few. (I forgot to mention it last time, but if you want to see Chapter 3 early, it is up in Wattpad since that's where I originally started posting. Have a great one!

Arigatougozaimasu!


	3. Chapter 3: Cold

Chapter 3: Cold  
" _I am responsible for what I say to you, not for what you understand._ " -Anon

"So, what did you want to talk about earlier, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked, she was stuffing her textbooks back in her bag, ready to leave.

"Oh, that's right. I'll tell you on the way home," Tomoyo smiled.

"Sheesh, I have to go back now?" Somebody muttered from behind them. Sakura and Tomoyo turned around, it was Rei. She sat down her chair, browsing through her phone.

"Aren't you going home yet, Rei-chan?" Sakura asked.

She mumbled, "Why is everyone asking me to go home? Can't I just- Oh, isn't that Fu-chan? The Snow Princess girl?" Rei said, pointing to a girl that entered the room, carrying sheets of paper in her hands.

"Fu-chan?" Tomoyo turned to the direction Rei was pointing at, Fuyu Aisu. "I wonder what she's doing..."

"Probably helping the teachers out, like she always does." Rei commented, lazily. She placed her hand on her cheek, "Saku- eh?" Rei turned to where Sakura was, or at least where she used to be, Sakura had already walked up to Aisu to help her carry some of the papers that she was holding.

"I didn't even notice... Hmm, right. I never got to ask you Rei-chan, but you're not really cousins with Li-kun and Meilin-chan, are you?" Tomoyo said, firmly.

"Sharp as ever aren't we, To-mo-chan?" Rei smiled, "Seriously, how perfect can a person be? You must have a flaw somewhere..."

Before the conversation got weirder, Sakura interrupted, "Aisu-chan had a lot of stuff in her plate, so It's a good thing I decided to help..." She glanced back and forth at the two, "Did I miss anything?"

"Nope. Hey, the bell rang 30 minutes ago, you guys should probably head home now. I still have stuff to do, so don't worry about me," Rei quickly replied. She gazed at Aisu as she briefly left the room.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you, Rei-chan. Where were you earlier at lunchtime? We tried looking for you, but we couldn't find you anywhere..." Sakura said, while Tomoyo nodded.

"Eh? I had to deal with some papers so I spent the whole time at the faculty's office. Aaaand checked the school out a little bit." Rei said, a little stretch from the truth, but hey, at least she wasn't lying. The clan had sent her on another important mission, which she had to take care of right away. _I gotta admit, going to school and waking up early in the morning everyday sure is tiring._ "Sorry if I worried you, or anything."

"It's fine," Sakura smiled. "Well let's go, Tomoyo-chan," She closed the classroom door as Tomoyo waved. Sakura called out, "Bye, Rei-chan!"

"See you tommorow!" Rei waved back. As soon as they left, her smile faded into a frown.

"She's going to get taken advantage of one day because of her kindness." A girl spoke, her back leaned against the other doorway, arms crossed. Her voice was like that of a robot, monotonous and low. She had long, braided violet hair and coal black eyes.

"You have no right to judge," Rei retorted, looking outside the window. Tomoyo and Sakura hand-in-hand, walked out of the school gates, chatting away.

She continued as she took her sunglasses off, then she bowed, "Nice to meet you, you may simply call me Violet."

"What's the deal with you not calling people by their names, but basing them off as colors?" Rei asked, she was one to talk. She had developed the habit of cutting people's name in half and calling them by that. (Sakura: Saku-chan) But in serious and dire situations, she would break out of that habit and would call people by their normal names.

"Funny you should ask." Violet walked closer, "Be careful, I am not here to side with anyone. But I do hope that you help the mistress in fighting this dark magic, she needs all the help she can get. And I'm just going to point this out, the life that is ahead of her isn't going to be so bright."

"I'm already aware of that." Rei faced Violet, "You know him, don't you? I swear I've seen you before."

"You have, and that's all I'm going to say for now." She continued, "Well then, I shall take my leave."

Rei watched as Violet left the room, leaping out of the window. She bit her lip, trying to remember where she had seen that emotionless girl before.

xoxoxoxox

"Hey, Tomoyo-chan. You said that there was something you wanted to tell me?" Sakura asked as they walked down the street beside penguin park.

"Oh, well... It's not really important, but..." Tomoyo hesitated, she never normally let anyone or anything bother her much, but something about Fuyu Aisu felt... different.

"Hm?"

"It's Aisu-chan." Tomoyo said, "She gives off this really weird vibe, I just thought that maybe..." _What am I saying?_

Sakura tilted her head questioningly at Tomoyo, this was not like the Tomoyo she knew. The Tomoyo she knew wasn't jittery, hesitant about her words, and never lost composure, what was going on?

"Tomoyo-chan, do you feel sick? Are you okay?" Sakura felt Tomoyo's forehead, it was hot. "Maybe you have a fever..."

"Eh? No, I'm fine, really, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo said, embarassed that she had let Sakura see her like this. _Maybe I am sick, I don't know... I just want to rest._

"Hold on, I'll call your bodyguards to send you home, okay?" Sakura held on to Tomoyo's hands. Something like this rarely happened to Tomoyo, so whenever it did, Sakura knew that she had to figure out what it was quickly.

xoxoxoxox

 _Hong Kong..._

Syaoran placed the sealing ofuda that Rei had given him on the floor and pierced it with his sword. Then, a black smoke appeared and floated around his room.

"Fool. What were you thinking? You could've just left me in there, unless you wanted to seal me. And it seems that you cannot. Unless you want to negotiate with me, but first you must figure out which card I have control over," It said.

 _What card? Rei did tell me one time that the aura liked to move from one place to another and has been lingering around the school gates since the seal broke. Although..._ "It's the Move card. Is that it? Are you going to return to your seal now or what?" Syaoran asked.

"Haha, you really are a fool. Yes, It is indeed the Move card, but I am not convinced on why I should listen to your request."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Syaoran said, what was he trying to accomplish with this anyway? He just wanted to see if he could seal the force by himself, which seemed highly unlikely.

"Just leave me alone until you find the card mistress, only then will I consider going back to my seal," the voice disappeared and the black smoke entered the ofuda once again.

Picking up the ofuda from the floor, he muttered, "Card... mistress..."

Someone knocked and the door slowly opened, "Syaoran-sama, the preparations are ready and it's about time to go. Are you all ready?" Wei, his and Meilin's personal butler who had been taking care of them ever since they were born, asked.

Syaoran looked up and replied, "Thanks Wei, I'll be down in a sec."

xoxoxoxox

"Something's wrong with her, Eriol." Spinel commented as he flipped a page in the book that he was reading, "Are you just going to watch and not do anything?

"No, not this time, Tomoyo-san and Sakura-san will figure something out theirselves, I'm sure." Eriol replied as he set down his glasses and shut his midnight blue eyes.

Just then, his phone rang. Spinnel hovered over the phone and gave it to Eriol, "It's Kaho."

"Hello?"

"Eriol, so how has Sakura-san and everyone else been? I just wanted to give you a quick phone call to tell you that my flight is in two hours," Kaho's melodic voice stated.

"Yes, I do remember. And they're all doing fine," Eriol responded.

"I'll be joining you very shortly, I can't wait to see how Sakura and Tomoyo are doing after all these years." Even though Eriol couldn't see it, he was sure that Kaho was smiling from the other side of the phone by the tone of her voice. "Well then, I have to go. Send everyone my best regards."

Eriol hung up and placed his phone on the desk. Nakuru peeked her head from the kitchen and called out, "Dinner's ready!"

xoxoxoxox

Daidouji Sonomi entered the room and frantically ran up to Tomoyo, "Tomoyo! I heard about what happened, are you okay?"

Surprised, Tomoyo looked up and said, "Okaa-san. Thank you for worrying, but I'm perfectly fine."

Sonomi sat down beside her and stroked her hair gently, "Unfortunately, I have an important meeting tonight, but I'll make sure to spend time with you tommorow when I get back, okay? Are you sure you'll be fine?"

"I'm fine, okaa-san. Really, I know how busy you get, I understand," She smiled, tightly clenching her fists.

"Well then, I'll be off. I'll tell Purin-san to make sure that you eat and rest well tonight. I love you, Tomoyo," Sonomi lightly kissed her on the forehead.

Tomoyo held back tears while a dark smoke omitted from her, invisible to the naked eye. When Sonomi left, a bleaky voice whispered, "Pampered little princess..."

"Who are you?" Tomoyo asked, looking around the room. "Please, leave me alone."

"Hmmm, but doesn't that hurt you? The clueless card mistress doesn't seem to notice anything wrong with you at all," The voice continued.

"It's fine, I don't want her to worry about me... She already has enough problems to deal with," Tomoyo opened her hand and stared at the snowflake necklace, which gleamed ever so brightly in the dim room.

"Always so selfless, aren't you? Don't you ever want something for yourself?" The voice said, "Look at her, she might not be rich and she might not have a huge mansion, but everything around her is filled with pure bliss, happiness, and love. Don't you want some of that as well?"

"I already get a lot of that everyday. It may not seem like it to you, but my friends all care about me, just as much as I care for them. My mother may not spend a lot of time with me, but as time went by, I've grown to understand and realize that she does love and care for me after all. If she didn't, she would just be ignoring me everyday, instead of actually worrying about me." Tomoyo replied, tilting her chin up confidently, "Am I wrong?"

The voice sighed, "I just can't win with you, can I?" With that, the voice disappeared.

Tomoyo felt a rippling sensation as a dark aura engulfed her. _You're strong, girl, but apparently not strong enough to fight me back. You don't even possess the powers to seal dark forces like me. It appears that I'll have to continue using your body for a bit longer..._ _hime-sama._

xoxoxoxox

"Sakura-Sakura!"

Sakura looked up and realized that Kero was staring at him, brows furrowed in concern. "Oh sorry, I must've spaced out," She glanced at the clock, it was already past 7.

"Your dad's been calling you for the past few minutes. I guess he stopped and just assumed you were asleep-"

Just then, someone knocked at the door. "-Or not," Kero quickly hid behind Sakura's back. Fujitaka smiled, "Sakura-san, were you sleeping? You weren't answering when I was calling you. Dinner's ready so if you want to eat, just come down, okay?"

"Thanks, otou-san. Sorry for worrying you," Sakura responded.

As Fujitaka closed the door behind him, Sakura opened her drawer where she always kept the Clow Book- well, Sakura Book now. She opened the book and layed the cards down on her desk. Her eyes widened as she held up two cards, "They changed color... they're gray now."

Eh?" Kero turned to look at what Sakura was holding. She was right, the Move card and the Voice card was now a tainted gray, instead of the usual pink, "What happened?"

"Oh no..."

She remembered a certain conversation, "You better be careful and stay on your guard, but if there's anything in more danger than you are, it's the cards. If there is dark magic on the loose, it may very well take control over the cards and possibly corrupt them. And the cards, when used for the wrong intentions can be very powerful, and instead of being able to aid you as they're supposed to, may pose as a very dangerous threat to you," Eriol had said to her back then.

"Corrupted? You didn't say anything about that the last time!" Kero stated.

"I'm sorry, I guess I forgot..." Sakura responded, "Ehehehe..."

"Hmm..." Kero tilted his head at Sakura, "Are you sure you're okay?"

She smiled brightly, "Yeah. Thanks for always worrying about me, Kero-chan."

xoxoxoxox

 _The next day..._

Chiharu approached Sakura as she sat down her desk, "Ne, Sakura-chan, do you know where Tomoyo-chan is? We were supposed to meet up early this morning to continue the project we were supposed to work on. Do you know what happened to her?"

"Oh right, yesterday she was kind of feverish, so maybe she decided not go to school today. Sorry about that, Chiharu-chan," replied Sakura.

"No, it's fine, if she's sick then she should rest. Well, hope she gets better, she never gets sick," Chiharu frowned.

"Yeah... I'm also worried because of that," Sakura smiled sadly and waved her hand to Chiharu as Terada-sensei came in.

Sakura looked behind her, both Rei and Tomoyo didn't go to school today. _I wonder what happened... maybe I'll go visit at least Tomoyo-chan later after school._

 _After a few hours passed..._

Sakura looked out the window, and it was raining quite heavily. She sighed.

On gloomy and dark days like this, Sakura couldn't help but recall that time, two years ago at the airport, that time when she was sure that she'd never see him again.

 _Two years ago..._

 _Sakura sprinted into the airport and looked for him desperately, but no matter how much she ran and ran, it was all in vain. The plane to Hong Kong had already left just a few minutes ago. She was too late._

 _Sakura's knees collapsed and tears started flowing down her crestfallen face, "No... he can't just leave me like that..."_

 _"Sakura!" A voice called. Touya ran up to his sister and helped her up. After a while, he hesistantly asked, "Were you too late?"_

 _Sakura nodded, sobbing. Sakura hugged her brother and sobbed in his chest. And in a muffled voice she said, "I can't believe it. I don't believe it. I don't want to believe it. But... he's gone... after all..." Sakura paused._

 _"He left without even saying goodbye..."_

"Kinomoto Sakura! How many times do I have to keep on telling you not to space out in class? Pay attention!" The math teacher called out.

"Hoe," Sakura sweat-dropped. "Sorry, sensei..."

In a while, the bell rang indicating that it was lunch time.

Rika came up to Sakura who was looking outside again, tracing the raindrops that rolled down the window.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay? I noticed that you seem a little gloomy today, what's the matter?"

Sakura looked up at Rika, she had forgotten how caring and kind Rika was, ever since back in elementary. "Ah, Rika-chan, I'm sorry for worrying you and thanks for your concern, but I'm fine, really."

"Hm... then, if you say so, whatever it is you're worrying about, we're here for you, okay? I'm sure whatever troubles you're facing right now, you'll conquer it. Because... you're a really strong person, Sakura-chan!" Rika held Sakura's hands and smiled at her encouragingly.

Sakura smiled back, "Thanks, Rika-chan."

Naoko and Chiharu peeked inside the classroom, bento in their hands, Chiharu called out, "Sakura-chan, Rika-chan! The rain finally stopped so let's go outside and eat together!"

Rika let go of Sakura's hands, the smile never leaving her face, "Let's go, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded, _I'm so lucky to have such good friends._

xoxoxoxox

A little later... the bell rang for the last time today.

"Sakura-san, what club are you in?" A certain silver-haired girl ran up to Sakura as she was about to exit the school gates.

"Ah, Aisu-chan, we have until one week to decide, right?" Sakura placed her hand on her chin, "I'll just go with cheerleading like I always do!"

"Ah, I see. Ne, are you busy right now? Maybe we could go to that new cafe that just opened up near our school," replied Aisu.

"Oh, about that, I'm actually on the way to Tomoyo-chan's house right now, sorry Aisu-chan. But maybe you'd like to come with me?"

Aisu looked like she was about to say no but instead said, "O-oh, sure! I do want to know how she's doing, since a lot of our classmates said that she rarely gets sick and that made me worried and everything..."

"Well then, let's go together!" Sakura said, taking Aisu's hand and leading her on the way to Tomoyo's house.

"That's... Tomoyo-san's house?!" Aisu pointed at a big-looking mansion as Sakura was being greeted by one of the maids, Aisu turned to the maid and bowed, "A-ah, sorry..."

"Oh, right... I almost forgot how big Tomoyo-chan's house was," Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Tomoyo-sama, you have visitors!" The maid called out as she entered Tomoyo's room, "It's Sakura-sama, and another girl with white hair."

 _White hair?_ Tomoyo looked up, "Thank you, Purin-san. Please call them in."

"The madam requests of your presence in her room," The maid led them to Tomoyo's room.

Aisu entered the room and saw Tomoyo laying down on her bed, looking like a peaceful angel. She slowly sat up and said, "I have been expecting you, have a seat."

"To what do I owe this honorable visit? Surely, you have not only come here to taunt me while I am at most vulnerable," Tomoyo began.

Aisu looked beside her, where was Sakura? Now that she think about it, she never saw her enter the room with her, "I..."

"You will regret ever stepping foot in my territory, Fuyu Aisu," Aisu felt a shiver go down her spine as a shadow casted over Tomoyo's eyes.

With that, Aisu felt as if somebody was shaking her, "Aisu-chan, Aisu-chan!"

Aisu looked at Sakura, she had a concerned look on her face. Suddenly feeling more alert than she had ever before, she asked, "What just happened?"

"You were spacing out, the maid just told us to go in, are you okay? Do you need to rest? I'm sure Tomoyo-chan would be kind enough to-"

Aisu shaked her head, "No, no. I'm fine, don't worry about me, Sakura-san."

At first, Sakura looked kind of doubtful but then smiled and responded, "No problem, Aisu-chan."

They both entered the room and they saw Tomoyo sitting on the couch, her hair tied up in a messy bun as she drank her hot jasmine tea. She gestured to the seat beside her.

Sakura and Aisu sat down, "Tomoyo-chan, are you feeling better now? What happened to you? You rarely get sick."

"Ah, I just felt a little out of it today, I'm sorry, did I worry everyone?" Tomoyo frowned as she placed her cup down on the table.

"We did worry, and that's why I decided to come over and check up on you today, and Aisu-chan decided to come along," Sakura replied, Aisu waved.

"Don't you have a student council meeting today?" Tomoyo quietly said, rather coldly.

Aisu blinked, did she just hear right? "Eh?"

"I-I mean, I appreciate everyone worrying about me, but I'm fine!" Tomoyo smiled.

'Please don't be mean to Aisu-san,' Tomoyo pleaded in her mind.

'Why? Would you rather me go for the mistress instead?' A low voice replied.

'I...'

Sakura clapped her hands, "Oh, right! Here Tomoyo-chan," Sakura handed Tomoyo a bag. "Cupcakes, otou-san baked them last night for you when I told him about what happened yesterday."

Tomoyo took the bag and smiled, "Thank you, Sakura-chan! Please tell your otou-san that as well."

She then turned to Aisu, "Aisu-chan, I appreciate- So, I guess you're empty-handed, huh?"

Tomoyo's eyes widened and she immediately covered her mouth, Sakura tilted her head at Tomoyo, "U-um, I'm kind of not feeling so well, but thanks for coming over, Sakura-chan, Aisu-san."

"No problem, Tomoyo-chan! Do you think you'll be able to go to school tommorow?"

"I... don't know yet, sorry, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo replied.

"No worries, just focus on getting better okay? Get well soon!" Sakura and Aisu exited the room and was led by the maid outside the gates.

"Well, my house is that way, see you tomorrow, Aisu-chan!" Sakura waved as she started to walk the opposite direction from Aisu.

Aisu waved back, "See you tomorrow."

xoxoxoxox

Sakura walked through the streets on her way home as she remembered something, "Oh no! I completely forgot that I was on cooking duty tonight! I have to quickly go buy some ingredients from the store!" Sakura ran down the streets when she vaguely felt a very familiar aura.

She stopped. _Could this be... No it can't be..._

Sakura spotted a boy with chestnut brown hair in the distance, these streets weren't usually crowded, so why now? She desperately tried to run after the boy but as soon as the crowd melted, he was gone. His aura was still there, but it seemed distinct.

 _Was that... Syaoran-kun?_

xoxoxoxox

 **A/N** : Konnichiwa, everyone! How have y'all been? And if any of you are wondering, no, I am not gonna wait until chapter 8 to bring back Syaoran-kun. (Get it, because he was introduced in the anime episode 8? Huehue.) Actually, in episode 7, he did a cameo appearance. And now, in chapter 3 here in DCA, (I don't know if that really counts as a cameo) he also did one so... we can only conclude that I'm going to bring him back next chapter, chapter 4! The half of episode 8.

I honestly did not realize that until now, haha. Please hang on a little longer, the story will reach it's climax real soon! Chapter uploads will now be every end of the month. Thanks for reading and tune in for more!

Arigatougozaimasu!


	4. Chapter 4: A Voice Unheard

Chapter 4: A voice Unheard

It was nighttime and Rei muttered as she walked down the dark alley at the end of the street, "It's not like I don't want to go back."

"Please, spare me! I swear I won't ever do it again!" She heard somebody exclaim in the distance.

She squinted her eyes, a figure was standing in front of a man sitting on the ground, as she looked closer, she saw that the figure had brown hair and amber eyes.

"Syao-kun?" Rei spoke. Syaoran looked up, using that as a distraction, the man limply stood up and ran away.

"Hey! Get back here, you..." Syaoran tried to run after the man but the man already got away and was nowhere to be seen.

He sighed and turned to Rei, Rei sweat-dropped, "That was my fault, wasn't it?"

"No, it's a good thing you came actually, who knows what would have happened if you didn't interrupt?" Syaoran grinned.

"Poor guy... what did he do to you?"

"Let's talk about that another time, because the real question is, why are you still here in Japan?" Syaoran raised an eyebrow.

"Aw, come on, I'm already on my way to the airport," Rei smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you're going the wrong way. Besides, you were supposed to arrive in Hong Kong three days ago."

"Hmm, fine! I don't want to be in the same country you're in anyway," Rei pouted.

Syaoran let out a short chuckle and patted her on the back, "I'm not forcing you, Rei, if you don't want to do it, that's fine. These forces are going to be dangerous to deal with. They're different from the Clow Cards that we've dealt with before..."

Rei's smile dropped as Syaoran continued to walk away from her, she called out, "Ne, Syao-kun."

He halted and turned around sensing the seriousness in her tone, "Hm?"

"Is there something you know that I don't?"

"Eh? What brought that on?" He didn't fail to notice the dangerous glint in her eyes, "What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

She continued pleasantly, if not, too pleasantly, "I'll be straight to the point. I do get what you're saying, but, what's up with Mei-chan? She can take care of herself just fine without you agonizing over her. I'm trying to sound less reproachful than possible, but, is there something I should know about?"

"I already told you. It's because-"

Rei interjected, "I know. Some crazy dark magic is on the loose and might harm Mei-chan, right? But she doesn't have any powers anyway so why bother, exactly? In fact, she can fight very well, even without magic, so..." she trailed off.

"Exactly, I'm not doing this just especially for Meilin, but with the knowledge you have of the dark forces, I want you to look after things back at home. Not just in Japan and Hong Kong even," Syaoran fumbled in his pocket. "I was going to tell you soon... but since you're so nosy as always... here," he handed her a glass shard that was shining in different colors, it also looked like it had a magical barrier on it.

"What is this?" Rei asked, examining the shard. There was a design on it, which looked like a tip of a golden crown.

"I don't know either but, I think it's the materialized form of the dark forces. From that sealing ofuda you gave me. I don't know how, but I guess I managed to seal it properly." His brows were furrowed, "I wonder why it didn't turn into a card instead. I tried to seal it... it did go back in, but it broke free eventually and tried to get a hold of Meilin. She doesn't have magic so she won't really be able to do anything about it. Since the dark force seems to take control of you inside, you probably won't be able to break free from it through physical means. But that doesn't explain why she collapsed all of a sudden that one time."

"W-Was that my fault, t-then? For giving the ofuda to you and all..."

"Not particularly, but I guess that just proves how dangerous this dark magic can be. Not only can it take over the cards, but it appears that it can pursue humans as well," he replied.

"Hm... interesting," Rei tried to smash the shard to pieces but was shaken from the impact of it.

"H-Hey! What are you trying to do?"

"As I thought, it's completely sealed," Rei gave the shard back to Syaoran. "It doesn't break."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

Rei looked at him pompously, "Keep it. It might be important. Be sure to tell Saku-chan and the others too, okay?"

With that, she waved to Syaoran and leapt off, "Catch ya later!"

xoxoxoxox

Tomoyo continued to silently sew the pink chiffon dress she was making for Sakura when her phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Tomoyooooo-chhaannn!" It was Sakura, Tomoyo couldn't tell because the caller ID was unknown. She must be borrowing one of the public phones.

"Sakura-chan? What's the matter? Don't you have your phone with you?"

"I checked my bag, it wasn't there! I know I brought it with me today but I can't find it! B-But, that's not all I wanted to tell you..."

Suddenly, Tomoyo broke into a coughing fit, "Oh... Really? I..."

"Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked, concerned. _She's still sick... but, why? I know I can do something... but what? Tomoyo-chan's been acting really weird lately, I didn't want to admit it, but I felt like that strange aura felt stronger when I get close to her..._

Then, Sakura's eyes widened at a sudden revelation, _Is that even possible? I have to make sure! Still, I should've known though. Why am I so clueless? This is my fault._

"Tomoyo-chan, hang on! I'm coming back to your house!" She stated, tightly gripping her star key that was hung around her neck.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? Saku-" the line got cut off.

After a few minutes, one of her maids informed her that Sakura was back and that she had to talk with her immediately. Tomoyo nodded.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, bursting into the room. The maid closed the door after her, but Tomoyo looked slightly nettled.

Tomoyo quickly shook her head again, softly, she said, "Sakura-chan? Did you leave anything behind? Perhaps your phone? Oh, but I didn't see it an-"

Sakura cut her off as she jumped forward and embraced her tightly, "Tomoyo-chan... why didn't you tell me anything?"

Tomoyo was taken aback by Sakura's sudden act, and she resisted and pushed her away. "What are you doing?"

"A-Ah, I..." Tomoyo stammered and looked away. _We made a deal, didn't we? You could stay in my body as long as you don't hurt Sakura-chan or my friends in any way..._

 _I got bored, even though you_ are _an interesting girl, and you have a lot of secrets hidden from the world... I don't need you anymore._

 _B-But...!_

Sakura stared in shock as she saw Tomoyo turn a few shades paler, her eyes widened and a black smoke emitting from her frail body.

Sakura rushed to her as she collapsed, she layed her down on the couch. Sakura swiftly grabbed her star key and chanted, "The Key which hides the power of the Stars! Show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract. RELEASE!"

The star whirled and the key expanded into the Star staff, she was surprised that she actually still remembered the incantation that had not been used for at least 2 years.

The black smoke lurked around the room, looking for an exit. Quickly, she held out her staff in front of it.

Suddenly, Kero-chan bursted into the room from one of the windows, "Sakura! Ya called?" He glanced around and saw Tomoyo laying on the couch while Sakura was holding her staff up to a dark force, "What happened?"

"Kero-chan!" Sakura called out without facing him, "Look after Tomoyo-chan, okay?!"

"Ha? Oi, Sakura?! Where are you going?"

The dark force finally found it's way out from one of the windows, Sakura followed it, gripping her staff tightly to her chest. She exclaimed, "Wait!"

 _What do I do? I left my cards at home, why didn't I bring it with me?_

She continued running after the force but she realized that it was heading towards her school. It went up the gates but Sakura wasn't the most athletic kid in her class for nothing. She climbed up the gates, and jumped down as the moon glimmered from above.

"Oh no... what do I do now? I lost it..." she murmured to herself.

Heedless, she ran inside the school since that's where she could feel it's presence. "This presence... it's awfully familiar. What is it?"

She turned to one of the hallways and shivered, "Hoooeee... I completely forgot how scary the school is at night..."

She tensed and hugged her staff closer to her as she suddenly heard a voice coming from the music room, "E-Eh? Wha-What's that...?"

The voice continued, _The light of the sunset grows dim over the rape blossom field..._

 _The outlines of the mountains fade into mist. In the calm spring breeze, I look up at the sky._

 _A faint scent fills the air, beneath the evening moon. The lights of the town, the colors of the forest._

 _The people walking through the rice fields. The call of frogs, and the ringing of bells._

 _All grow hazy in the misty moonlight..._

Oddly enough, Sakura was enthralled by the voice, because it sounded like an angel lulling a baby to sleep. But at one point, despite the warm and tender feeling of the song, the voice seemed like it was yearning for something. Like a forlorn mother reaching out to her child. She felt like that was not the first time that she had heard that voice.

Before Sakura even knew it, she was walking towards the music room, towards the voice. She walked up the stairs and stood in front of the music room, the soft and soothing voice could be heard from behind the door.

She clenched her hand as she opened the door only to be greeted by a pale-looking woman, clad in a layored ivory dress. Her long gray hair fanned out behind her. Sakura's emerald eyes widened, the same shade as the woman's. She was sitting down on the piano as she stretched her arms out to Sakura, as if inviting her.

"O-Okaa-san...? But, how? You're..." _How? Wait... this has happened before. With the Illusion Card! But, even if this is the Illusion... how come it has a voice? Is that possible? Or... maybe it's the Song card? I was right though, about Tomoyo-chan. Wait, that's it-the Song Card took over Tomoyo-chan!_

Then, she gritted her teeth and stared at Kinomoto Nadeshiko, "That's right... you're really here." She smiled, "That's you isn't it, okaa-san? You led me to the Song, didn't you?"

The voice was familiar because it was her mothers. The Song must've taken over her mother's voice, but is that possible? Indeed, the cards would be even more powerful enhanced by dark magic. The question is, is somebody controlling this magic, or is it just acting on it's own?

A few tears streamed down her cheeks but she wiped them with the back of her hand. She shook her head, _I need to seal this force, before it escapes and possibly harm other people!_

Again, she held her staff up to the force, the singing stopped momentarily, as if accepting it's defeat. "So, you're the Card Mistress, huh? We'll see how tough you really are. Next time..."

She wasn't scared anymore, instead she furrowed her brows in concentration and exclaimed, "Original Card of the Stars, I command you! Break free from the grasp of the darkness. Return to my side once more, Dark Card!"

She swinged her star staff around as her hair billowed about, her magic star circle appearing below her. Indeed, the black smoke reduced to a glass shard that had the design of what looked like the heels of a crystal shoe. It slowly landed on Sakura's palms. She quietly said, looking up at Nadeshiko, "Thank you, okaa-san."

Her ghost slightly smiled and nodded, her mouth moved as if to say something, but Sakura couldn't make it out. She slowly disappeared into thin air, she felt a strong breeze and the swaying of the tree branches could be heard from outside.

A drop of tear landed on the shard and she examined it, "A... glass shard?" She placed it inside her pocket.

Her staff turned back to a necklace and she fastened it back to her neck, carefully, she continued to sneak out of the school. She halted.

"There's that same presence I felt before..." she turned around and tensed, could it be?

She kept walking on, clutching her star necklace, ready to release it again if ever something pops out. She walked out of the school gates but turned around as she heard light footsteps coming from the other direction.

Sakura ran towards the footsteps, feeling the aura getting closer.

She suddenly bumped into a person in the street, she hesitantly looked up, "I'm sorry, I wasn't lo-" she stopped short at the sight of a young boy, his amber eyes widened at her, blood dripping from his forehead. He had some bruises here and there, and he was panting as if he had been running, his chestnut locks were disheveled.

Her eyes fixated at him in shock, "You..."

xoxoxoxox

"Sakura. Oi, Sakura. You're going to be late," there was a gentle shake on her shoulder.

She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock, "Hoooeeeee! I'm going to be late!"

Sakura speedily did her morning routine and headed downstairs, "Kero-chan, I'm heading off, bye!"

Kero-chan yawned, "Seriously... what are you going to do without me waking you up in the morning?"

"Otou-san, good morning!" Sakura cheerfully greeted her father. Fujitaka was also dressed up for work, an early staff meeting, she assumed.

"Good morning, Sakura-san," her father greeted.

"Is onii-chan at work early again?" Sakura asked while she chugged down her glass of milk and swung her bag over her shoulder.

"Yes, he's been working a lot recently. I wonder if he's saving up for something..." Fujitaka replied, "Oh, right. I won't be home until tommorow morning, but Touya-kun said he'll be back tonight."

"Ah, I see. Good luck with work then, otou-san! I'm heading out!" Sakura fastened her rollerblades, then turned to her mother's picture frame. Her long gray hair was loosely tied back by a blue ribbon and she was wearing a matching blue satin dress.

Sakura smiled knowingly and said, "I'm heading out, okaa-san."

Fujitaka smiled and replied, "Have a great day, Sakura-san. Take care!"

xoxoxoxox

Sakura tried to sneak into her classroom unnoticed but jumped as her best friend, Tomoyo waved to her, "Good morning, Sakura-chan."

"Hauu... morning, Tomoyo-chan..." she replied while she sat down on her desk.

Chiharu and Naoko came up to them and Chiharu said, "Good morning! Ne, did you guys hear? There's apparently a new transfer student. It's like back in elementary when we had Li-kun and Meilin-chan... and Hiiragizawa-kun too!"

Naoko added, "Yeah, and we just had Reienji-chan a few weeks ago as well." They turned to her desk, which was empty, "Speaking of which, she's been absent a lot lately, huh?"

"Yes, it has been a while since we've last seen her... I wonder what happened to her..." replied Tomoyo.

Sakura nodded. She tried to get her mind off of what happened last night, which kept her awake, to her demise. _It was probably just a dream..._

And at that moment, the door opened and their homeroom teacher, Terada-sensei, came in, "Alright everyone, take your seats."

All the students returned to their respective seats and faced Terada-sensei. He cleared his throat and stated, "As some of you might have already heard... we have a new student joining us today."

This produced a murmur among the classroom. So it was true, Sakura sighed. She glanced at the doorway, eager to see him again.

"He is from Hong Kong and some of you might already be acquainted with him from elementary. Please be nice to him," he cued him in.

And there he was, dressed up in the Tomoeda Middle School uniform was Li Syaoran. He still had a few bruises but they weren't very obvious. He looked like the bad boy type though because of the band-aid that was evident on his forehead. "I'm Li Syaoran, pleased to meet you."

The girls in the room squealed at the new transfer student while students that knew him since elementary welcomed him back.

Terada-sensei proceeded to write his name on the board and said, "You can sit over there for now," he pointed to Rei's desk near Tomoyo's. "Since Reienji-san will be absent for a few weeks because of a family emergency. No need to worry though, Reienji-san had informed us that she is doing fine for the time being."

Syaoran walked over to Rei's desk as Tomoyo smiled and waved at him. He deftly gazed at Sakura then turned to face Terada-sensei.

Tomoyo kept quiet and glanced at Sakura to see her reaction. She was sort of expressionless, as if she knew that he was back. Did she? Were they even keeping in touch these days? But there was that look of relief in her eyes, as if she had been waiting for him. Worried for the two, Tomoyo looked outside the window past Sakura and sighed.

Sakura turned her head towards Tomoyo and caught her eye, "Is there something wrong, Tomoyo-chan?"

Tomoyo shook her head and smiled to reassure her, "Ah, it's nothing."

"Now everyone, settle down. We will now start homeroom."

 _Last night..._

"Syaoran..." Sakura muttered. "Is that really you?"

He didn't answer. Instead he looked away, but Sakura clenched her fists and fingered his forehead covered in blood. His lips were also bleeding.

"What happened to you?" It broke her heart to see Syaoran in such a state, "Here, you can't just run around like this. I'll take you to my house for now, I think we have some medicine left in our medicine kit." She said, the fact that he had left her 2 years ago, forgotten. How could she still be upset about that when he was hurt like this? She shook her head, she had to treat him first and get him to the hospital.

She accompanied him to her house and he didn't protest, he seemed pretty beaten up so he probably didn't have the strength to argue, "Onii-chan's coming home a little later tonight and otou-san's at work until tommorow so it should be fine."

She set him down on the couch, "I don't know much about medicine, but I do know how to stop the bleeding and how to cover it at least. Before you go to the hospital, we should probably apply first-aid on your head."

First, she applied pressure on the wound with a clean cloth to stop the bleeding, and then cleaned the wound with warm water and some soap. Syaoran winced, but she proceeded gently as she placed some antibiotic cream on his forehead to avoid infection.

Lastly, she grabbed the bandage from the medicine kit and wrapped it carefully around his forehead, "There. It's not that bad so it should heal in a few days. You don't seem to have a concussion anyways."

For the first time, he looked up at her and muttered, "Thanks."

She held her hand up to her ear and leaned closer to him, "Hm?"

"I said, I never knew you were experienced with things like these," he said while averting his eyes at anything but her.

Sakura noticed this and frowned, "I learned a few things or two from onii-chan... So? Are you planning to tell me about what happened?" he looked worse for wear with his clothes all bloody like this. She reached over to him with a piece of tissue and lightly wiped the blood on his lips.

"I'm sorry for causing such a fuss. I never really meant to run into you anyway, and..." he trailed off, realizing how pathetic he sounded.

Sakura's brows arched in concern, "It's not a problem, it's natural to help out a friend," at this remark they both turned red and Syaoran quickly fumbled for something in his pocket and gave it to Sakura. It was her phone with a light pink case and a pretty star design.

"I... found it. And I learned that it was yours so, there," said Syaoran.

She gladly took it and placed it in her pocket, and threw the bloody cloths and kept the excess medicine. "Where did you find it?"

"Actually, there was this guy who stole it from you. It was in your pocket and you probably didn't notice but I happened to see so I ran after him and tried to get it back. He got away but came back with these three other guys. They were huge and they kinda ganged up on me so... but I still managed to get your phone back," he hesitantly said.

She stared at him, almost tearing up, "Why did you do that? You could've been hurt really bad! I don't want that to happen. But, thank you anyways..."

"It's fine, it was my fault for letting my guard down. This isn't how I wanted to see you, I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

Suddenly, Sakura stood up and hugged Syaoran, "I'm still mad at you for leaving like that so suddenly, and for getting beat up like this, but, why are you back here? We'll catch up okay?"

Syaoran's eyes widened but he hugged her back, "Yeah."

Releasing him, her ears reddening, she said, "But for now, you have to go back to your house. Where are you even staying? Are you still going to live in the apartment? I should probably come with you just in case."

Flustered, he looked away to cover his face. He replied briskly, "Y-Yeah, I'm still going to live in the apartment. But, I'll be fine, really. Besides, didn't you say that your brother was coming home soon? I should probably get going now, or things might get bad..."

"Oh, I guess so. B-But! The next time we meet, you'll tell me what you're doing here, okay? Are you _really_ sure though? I'm sure the apartment's not far from here, I can come with you!" And spend more time with him too. She couldn't help but feel giddy that Syaoran was back, but why? Did he come to see her? No, no, that's impossible. So mayble like Eriol, is there something else?

"And don't forget to get it checked out by a doctor, okay? I don't want it to get worse... y-you know, since this _is_ technically my fault for being such a klutz and all..."

Syaoran nodded and opened the door only to be greeted by a strong gust of wind and the rain heavily pelting down the ground, "It's raining..."

"Well... I can let you borrow my umbrella, it's fine," offered Sakura. She grabbed her umbrella from the stand and gave it to him.

He took it and headed outside, "Thanks again. Sorry for being a bother."

She shook her head and smiled, "No, like I said, It's fine."

His cheeks turned a bright crimson and he closed the door after him. Syaoran opened the umbrella, pink and cutesy, how Sakura-like, he thought.

"Sakura-chan... the bell just rang," came her best friend's lovely voice.

With a start, she looked around and gasped, some students were flocking out for lunchtime and she had been dozing off. "Hoe, sorry, Tomoyo-chan. I just feel a little tired..."

"That's fine," she smiled, "What a surprise, hm? Who knew Li-kun would be transferring back here in Tomoeda? Perchance, did you, Sakura-chan?" Kero-chan ended up sleeping over at Tomoyo's because he was too lazy to go back and since it was raining as well. Sakura called her that night that she got her phone back and asked how she was doing. Everything went well and the dark force was finally caught in the end.

"Actually..." Sakura relayed to Tomoyo what had occured last night, and to her demise, Tomoyo was now sulking about the fact that she didn't get to film Sakura's first capture in 2 years and that she didn't get to wear her costume that she had prepared for her.

"But I didn't know he was going to transfer here!" eyeing Syaoran who was surrounded by their elementary friends. Including Yamazaki who seemed like he was telling another lie and Chiharu looked like she was ready to strangle him.

Bentos layed in front of them, Sakura happily ate the omelettes that her brother had prepared for her. "Still, why didn't you tell me about it back then, Tomoyo-chan? I could've helped you."

"Well, I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal... and I didn't want to bother you."

Sakura replied, "Tomoyo-chan, we're best friends, aren't we? I won't be bothered by that! I'll be happy to help you out if you have any problems. So, next time, if you're okay with it, you should tell me if something's bothering _you_. Okay?"

Tomoyo smiled, "Of course!"

Sakura mirrored her smiled but her eyes lingered back on Syaoran. S _yaoran-kun..._

xoxoxoxox

 **A** **N:** Konnichiwa~!

Hai hai! Chapter 5 is coming reeeaalllll quick. I'll write my proper author's note then. Sorry for the wait!


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